Power Consumption

We measure CPU power consumption since one of our first tasks is to truly verify system stability. I isolate the power coming through the 8-pin ATX connector using an in-line meter that provides voltage and current readings, and total wattage passed through. While this may not prove to isolate the CPU power draw in all instances, it does serve as a good indicator of board efficiency and effective VRM design. Total system power consumption is no longer reported as this figure can change depending on what VGA is installed. The sole board-only power measurements possible without physically modifying a motherboard are those taken via the 8-pin CPU connector, making it the only figure of value worth reporting. I use wPrime with eight threads selected in the options since it provides a consistently high workload throughout the full length of the test and runs long enough for the VRM and CPU to produce a fair bit of heat. Most average workloads will draw far less than that, although distributed computing applications are quite similar. This is not supposed to test stability since I use several other applications to do so, but merely serves to provide repeatable power draw numbers anyone can replicate. The meter used is an off-the-shelf Zalman unit that has been on the market for some time. In my test environment, it provides results similar to a FLUKE 337 clamp meter.


The ASUS X99 DELUXE fared pretty well in our load tests. ASUS uses a relaxed default Turbo profile, so you get both decent performance and excellent power consumption, and under overclock, it pushes further than any other board, making comparisons there even more efficient, allowing for higher clocks. This "small" 8-phase VRM is good, really good.

Fan Control

ASUS debuted new fan controls with the Z97 platform, and the ASUS X99 DELUXE only takes it a step further by offering these control for more fans with its additional PCB for three more fan headers. Both the BIOS and OS software will test all installed fans for their maximum RPM and down to a full stop to automatically set a separate fan profile for each fan. This is perfectly done, with fans shutting down completely for as long as they are not needed and spinning up as temperatures increase. The two TPU chips allow for excellent fan controls, superbly monitoring temperatures and voltages to ensure your system has the cooling it needs while operating as quietly as possible while loads are light. Then there's the Auto Tuning Wizard that will automatically overclock your system after asking you a few questions about your system's configuration and its usage model.


Allowing you to push a bit further using pre-determined profiles that suit most CPUs out there, while also considering memory profiling and cooling, the Auto Tuning Wizard complements the physical TPU switches well.